The Jaffe Briefing - February 22, 2019
AT THE POLLS - Jump in your time machine to Nov. 3, 2020. You are at the polls, ready to vote for President. You pass through that red curtain and scan the screen. Wait! Donald Trump is not listed as a candidate for President? Could that be?? Possibly, yes, if some New Jersey Democrats have their way. They are reviving the futile effort to get Trump to release his tax returns, or be blackballed from the state's 2020 ballot. Of course, New Jersey has absolutely no say if Trump will be re-elected, thanks to that damn Electoral College. But still the state Senate approved a bill yesterday, once again, that would block candidates from appearing on Garden State ballots if they refuse to reveal their tax returns, à la Trump. Similar legislation has been introduced in at least 30 states but never enacted, the Record reports, which means New Jersey could break some ground here. Of course, this is all pointless. But that has never before stopped the Legislature from passing laws.
TRENTON - Political pundits are closely watching relations between Gov. Phil Murphy and Senate President Steve Sweeney. Are they hot, cold? Bearish, perhaps? The two have been performing an inelegant minuet with scant evidence they're getting in tune. Yesterday, the governor dodged a big fat custard pie in his face, courtesy of Sweeney. The Senate President had scheduled a vote to override Murphy's veto of a (Sweeney) bill that would have allowed people receiving cash public assistance more access to emergency housing aid. But the Senate President pulled the vote at the last minute. (BTW, he says it would have passed easily.) Sweeney is now giving the governor three weeks to approve his version of the bill, or else. Or else, we're thinking, another extra large custard pie? "I am not looking to embarrass him," Sweeney said. Now, who'da thunk that? NJ Spotlight follows the dance.
TRENTON - Chris Christie expected to be in the White House by now. But a not-so-shabby consolation prize is that he will be the newest member of the United States Sports Betting Hall of Fame. According to VegasSlotsOnline.com - likely never to re-appear as a news source on this page - the former governor is being honored April 25 in Manhattan, hailed as a "pioneer" in the sports betting sector, leading a charge against the federal sports betting ban and all its gross injustices to society. Christie will be honored during the hoopla of "Betting on Sports America" the largest conference in sports betting nationally, taking place in the Meadowlands. Bet on Christie taking a victory lap.
BAYONNE - During those long, dark days of January, when furloughed federal workers sat at home and mulled their futures, all seemed bleak. But not for a park ranger from Bayonne, who had a huge secret: She had won $29.5 million in the Pick-6 lottery in December, the Record reports. All was hush-hush, as she quietly huddled with giddy lawyers and financial advisors. On January 17, during the height of the shutdown, she officially claimed her winnings. But it was not until yesterday that media learned all about it. Assume if another shutdown occurs, she can be reached at her island in the Caribbean. Please have some respect and not call before the mid-morning daiquiri.
WOODBRIDGE - This town has some new bragging rights. It's now the proud home of 2019's Miss India USA. Kim Kumari, from Iselin, won the crown at Royal Albert's Palace in Fords in the longest-running annual Indian pageant outside of India. News India Times says Kumari, 18, and a graduate of JFK Memorial High School, was chosen over 75 contestants from 26 states. She is studying to be an optometrist and hopes to help children from third-world countries learn the importance of eye care. Kumari will represent the United States at the 2019 Miss India Worldwide pageant in Mumbai this September, perhaps wearing a JFK Mustangs jacket.
IN THE MEDIA
STATEWIDE - News defined, in its most basic form, is "a recently-changed situation or recent event." So, is it really news that Democrats across the state are throwing their enthusiastic support behind Sen. Cory Booker's candidacy for President? Four dozen Democrats in the state jumped on the Booker bandwagon in a story that was widely covered across New Jersey media. But, with Booker being the state's political shining star, isn't it just assumed he has the Democrats' universal backing? Wouldn't the "news" be if they weren't in support?
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
AT THE BOOKSTORE - President Trump thinks he should win the Nobel Peace Prize. Um, sure... but first he should really win "Literary Agent of the Year," as it appears every book he rips apart on Twitter becomes an immediate must-read bestseller. That includes such absolute winners as James Comey's A Higher Loyalty,Michael Wolff's Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, Bob Woodward's Fear: Trump in the White House, and Jeanine Pirro's Liars, Leakers, and Liberals: The Case Against the Anti-Trump Conspiracy. St. Martin's Press is now gearing up for its own cash windfall, as the President casts plenty of shade on Andrew McCabe's new book, The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump, which hit Tuesday amidst dizzying hype. Expect many, many more of these "tell-all" books, as they are akin to an ATM.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
It was this day in 1980 forever known as the "Miracle on Ice," as the U.S. hockey team beat the Russians 4-3 to win the gold.
WORD OF THE DAY
Idoneous - [eye-DOH-nee-əs] - adjective
Definition: Perfectly appropriate
Example: It's an idoneous tribute to dust off a Monkees LP this morning and give it a scratchy listen.
WIT OF THE DAY
"There is never a better measure of what a person is than when he's absolutely free to choose." - William M. Bulger
WEATHER IN A WORD
Gray
THE NEW 60
A Jaffe Briefing exclusive by Andy Landorf & John Colquhoun
